In The Shadows
by WhoLock Fan Creations
Summary: In The Shadows introduces Helen Mirren as the 1st female Doctor with this gripping heart stopping thriller of the evil that lurks in the shadows!
1. Chapter 1

Cassie walks down Main Street like she always does to work but on this dark dreary rainy morning something is different, she is being followed. About 10 to 15 feet behind her is a strange looking middle aged man who she noticed earlier standing across the road from her flat watching her and waiting for her to set off to work. Every time she looks behind her to see if he is still following her he seems to speed up a bit as if trying to catch up with her & this is a worrying thought as a few young women have been going missing recently and they always vanish in the early hours of the morning when it is still not quite daylight.

Cassie turns the corner and speeds up to not far off a slow jog in an attempt to put a bit of distance between the two of them but when she turns again there is no sign of him, she decides not to slow down too much just in case and within minutes thankfully she arrives at the front doors of Symonds Stationary where she works in the sales department cold calling companies trying to talk them into signing up for a business account.

The rest of her day is just a typical boring day at the office, she has her usual rude and vile customers swearing at her and slamming the phone down on her & the highlight of her day is seeing her friend Samantha at dinner which always gives them a chance to catch each other up on the latest office gossip. At 5pm she collects all her things & leaves to head home, she always says "goodnight" to the security guard Wilf as she is leaving secretly knowing that he may not be there much longer due to his age and he has always been nice to her.

Outside she fumbles in her bag for her umbrella as it is has been pouring with rain all afternoon and now seems to be getting heavier, but out of the corner of her eye she notices someone stood across the street staring at her & when she realises it is the same man from this morning she starts to panic. Cassie with umbrella in hand decides she doesn't really want to find out who this man is and what he wants so she sets off walking very rapidly towards the end of the street glancing behind her to see if the man is once again trailing her and sure enough he is closer now than he was this morning & she starts to panic even more. She decides to duck into an alleyway which she knows is a shortcut but normally she doesn't like using it as it is always dark down there with little or no lighting.

But as she is scurrying down the alleyway she hears a woman's voice call out to her..."Cassie, in here and be quick about it if you want to live", at the shock of what this unknown woman has just said she dives into what can only be described as a blue phone box. Once inside she is greeted by very bright lights and a huge room, "what, how, where am i?" Cassie takes a minute to gauge her surroundings and let her eyes adjust to the bright lights around the edge of the room. The woman that shouted her is now stood around what looks like a strange machine covered in knobs, switches and buttons of all shapes and sizes with a tall column of light standing in the middle of it reaching right up and into the ceiling which in this case is abnormally high. "Where am i?" Cassie begins to quiz this woman on her strange surroundings.

"You are safe inside the T.A.R.D.I.S, which it has to be said is a lot safer that out there" Cassie looks around again trying to work out how such a huge room could possibly fit inside a small phone box. "what exactly is the TARDIS & how come it is so big in here when outside it looks like a small blue box?". The woman is still fiddling with buttons and switches on the machine. "the TARDIS is my time & space capsule & it stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space and i think the best way of answering your second question is, it's bigger on the inside." The woman looking rather amused with herself after stating the obvious. "yes i can see that but where am i and why did you help me?"

"I helped you because if that man that was following you had got his way you wouldn't be here right now, you would now be a skeleton on the floor outside." Cassie loses her balance at this revelation "But who was he, What did he want with me, i'm nothing special", the woman looks up at her "My dear even though you do not need to be special for anything to happen to you, every person on this tiny little planet is special in their own way" she goes back to fiddling. "So who was he then?, and while we are on the subject, Who are you?"

"I am the Doctor, and that mat was just hired help if you like, he wasn't human i will put it that way" Cassie looks even more shocked at what had just been said to her and thinks to herself how can that man not be human, he looked human. "Anyway where do you live, i will take you back home, then i really must be on my way, i am a very busy woman and have things to do"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I will walk home, that strange man should have gone by now shouldn't he?" Cassie looks towards the Doctor expectantly. "I will have a look & see; no he is still out there." Cassie starts wondering why the man hasn't come inside then decides to ask "Why hasn't he come inside looking for me if he wanted to get hold of me that bad surely he would have tried?" "well you see I am well known throughout the universe and I have got quite a reputation so I very much doubt he would try & besides, the entire British army couldn't get through that door even if they tried & believe me, they have tried many times and failed many times, people only come in the TARDIS if I want them to and if I let them in, I am from a planet called Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous, I am a time traveller & this (The Doctor gestures around the TARDIS) is my time machine but it doesn't just travel in time it also travels in space. My planet was lost many years ago in a Time War that destroyed my people & ever since then I have been travelling & as you can imagine I have made a lot of enemies".

Cassie stared at the Doctor looking very confused, "if the man is still out there how am I going to get home then? I can't stay in here all night with you being ridiculous & to be honest I am wondering if I am safer out there or in here? Time travel is not possible!" The Doctor give Cassie an insulted look that makes Cassie feel very uneasy. "Do you want that man to get hold of you because believe me that creature will happily end your life within seconds of you stepping outside of the door, you won't be able to take 5 steps before he kills you!" Cassie looks around the TARDIS weighing up her options, she either leaves this madness with the result being certain death according to this mad woman or she lets this woman stand and fiddle on the machine and supposedly takes her home. "Okay then if this machine can travel through time and space show me, show me, take me to my flat this morning before I left & show me who that man is standing outside. My address is 46 Lethbridge Close, Godalming, Surrey, Uk, Europe, Earth, Milky Way, Universe" she says sarcastically.

The Doctor gives her a disgusted look and starts typing something which Cassie assumes to be her address into the machine and then pulls a lever to the side of a monitor screen. "you might want to hold on to something, she can be a bit bumpy" Cassie immediately grabs hold of the nearest handrail as the TARDIS groans and everything judders and shakes uncontrollably then all of a sudden everything is still and quiet. "There you go, 46 Lethbridge Close, Godalming, Surrey, UK, Europe, Earth, Milky Way, Universe, I believe that is the address you just gave me." Cassie looks at the Doctor and laughs and shakes her head. The Doctor looks at her with an insulted expression on her face. "If you don't believe me open the door and take a look outside, I promise you, you are a few doors up from your address".

Cassie looks round towards the doors behind her then back to the Doctor, "So you are telling me that this box, sorry TARDIS, has just flown through time and space back to this morning and we are now outside my house? If you expect me to believe that then you are crazier than the creep outside!" Cassie stands there with her arms folded as the Doctor walks towards her then past her and opens the doors. "have a look for yourself" Cassie obliges and walks towards the door and warily takes a look outside and to her disbelief they have indeed moved, they are now 3 doors up from her flat and she can see the strange man stood across from her flat. She looks at her watch curiously, "but its 6:23pm, how is that possible? If we have moved through time and space how come my watch didn't change?" "Your watch didn't change because you were inside here, everything in here stays relative, but everything outside of the TARDIS changes. Now do you believe me that this is a time machine? You asked me to take you home, quite rudely all the same you asked and I have".

"You can't leave me here that man is stood just over there and if you are telling the truth then I will be inside my flat, I can't just walk in on myself. I suppose I will have to believe you, after all that strange man is stood there where he was this morning, I mean now?, earlier?, my god this is confusing, how do you manage to keep track of where and when you are?". The Doctor begins to laugh at what Cassie has said "believe me it's not always easy but you get used to it". Suddenly the TARDIS starts beeping, the Doctor looks round and runs towards the console in the middle, she pulls the monitor screen round and stares at it, "are you getting out or are you coming with me? Because I need to leave, I can't hang around here all day, I have things to do, like I said I am a very busy woman". Cassie thinks about whether she should leave or not with that man standing outside her house & also what she will do all day. "well where are you going? What is so important that you need to rush off?"

The Doctor carries on looking at the monitor, after a few seconds she replies, "oh we are staying on Earth, we are just going into its past by about 8,000 years, something was left here and that something is a alien species called Skilatonians and they are why that man outside is trying to capture you, to feed to them." Cassie looks horrified at what the Doctor has just said to her, "but why would they want to eat me? What have I done to them?" The Doctor looks round to Cassie "close the door so we can go and I will explain exactly what they want with you".


	3. Chapter 3

Cassie closes the door and the Doctor flicks a switch, pulls the lever & the TARDIS starts to shake & judder again, Cassie notices this time that something inside the column is moving up and down with the groaning noise. "So Doctor, what exactly do they whoever they are want with me?" Cassie looks at the Doctor whilst trying to keep her balance as the TARDIs shakes and wobbles. "The creatures basically infest the host and take over their body, they basically eat the host from the inside and then use the host body to infiltrate human organisations like yours. They are slowly invading Earth & i have to find a way to stop them" "but i work at a stationary supplies office, my job isn't anything special or official".

"That doesn't make any sense though, if its a stationary company they should have no reason to try and take you over. I really don't understand it, the only reason i can think is they are trying to slowly work their way up to your boss, is it a big company? How close are you to your boss?"

"Yes we are the largest stationary company in the UK & what do you mean? Im' not sleeping with the boss! Besides my boss is a woman anyway"

"Right & i meant work wise, is your desk near your bosses office or are you their pa or anything like that?"

"No i'm not her P.A. but my desk is right outside her office"

"Thats it! Thats what they want with you, you are near your boss so they would stand a better chance of infiltrating the company and infesting your boss, then they ccan infest the company from the top down to the delivery drivers and they can spread to all the big companies that your company delivers to. The Skilatonians can spawn from the most minute particle of bone & they are in all bones in every person but they are dormant until an awakened particle gets into your body & you have died, basically they then eat you from the inside out for energy until you are just bones then they turn your bones to dust & spread again."

Cassie shudders at the thought of being eaten alive from the inside out. The TARDIS stops juddering.

"Does it always do that when its flying?"

"Do What? Shake?"

"Yes"

"Yes it does it all the time, its because its meant to be piloted by more than 1 person, We've landed"

"So you are telling me that outside those doors is 8000 years ago? That means i havn't even been born yet!"

"Yes & neither have i, its 6014bc Earth out there"

"Wow, how long have you been doing this? Travelling around time & space?"

"Centuaries, im thousands of years old, that old i honestly cant remember my exact age anymore, it happens in here you lose track of time funnily enough"

"Seriousley? You look got for a few thousand years old, i hope i still look that good at your age"

They both laugh, The Doctor starts examining the monitor again & flicking more switches. Cassie thinks about her life and what she has done with it, work home, work, home, work, home & realises that's all she ever seems to do anymore. She decides that when she gets back home she is going to take a vacation and relax for a bit, go and see some of the world and its wonders.

"Right then Cassie, lets go and find what we are looking for, somewhere out there the Skilatonians have just arrived on Earth so they shouldn't be that hard to find then we can stop them from setting up camp here, so to speak"

"How come nobody has ever noticed before, all the people just vanishing?"

"Normally the Skilatonians take over random people & they are normally the ones who you see on the news & in the papers saying that they are missing or they will take over a recently dead person that wouldn't normally be noticed or missed like the homeless & then find a way to infiltrate a company usually by trying to get employed there.

"So they are basically building up an army then before they take over Earth?"

"More than likely & we are here to stop them from even beginning their plan, not that i have figured out how we are going to stop a cloud of dust or a piles of bones but i will figure that bit out when i need to"

Despite Cassie looking a little worried by the Doctor's revelation she lets out a forced but nervous laugh.

As Cassie & the Doctor leave the TARDIS, Cassie is overwhelmed by the fresh unpolluted air that sweeps over them as the Doctor opens the door. As they step outside of the TARDIS Cassie is amazed at the beauty laid before her, they are in what looks like a tropical paradise island with lush green grass, clear blue skies, trees as tall as high rise flats, a river that is so clear it looks like a river of diamonds glinting in the warming sunlight, she notices a strange animal that looks like a horse but with 6 legs at the other side of the river, she turns round to call the Doctor to ask what it is but when she looks round to point out the animal it has gone.

"Its so beautiful Doctor."

"It will be, there are no humans to pollute it yet"

Cassie looks round again in awe of the sheer beauty surrounding them. The Doctor pulls out her sonic screwdriver & begins scanning the area surrounding them until the noise changes as it is aimed at a rocky outcrop just in front of them.

The Doctor calls to Cassie to follow her and the pair of them start walking, Cassie taking in even more of the beauty and fresh air of Earth 8000 years ago. As they reach the outcrop, Cassie feels herself becoming more & more anxious than she was this morning which feels like a lifetime ago now. Cassie then spots something move out of the corner of her eye then suddenly she is grabbed from behind and before she can make a sound she is being dragged off into the cave.

The Doctor is examining a large winged creature hanging from a tree when she turns round to call Cassie over, t notices that she is nowhere to be seen, she looks around for her but then she hears a scream from the rocks behind her.

"DOCTOR!"

The Doctor whips round so fast she nearly loses her balance but as she steadies herself she looks towards the outcrop and sees a light in an opening that wasn't there before and the light is growing dimmer and dimmer by the second.


End file.
